KG Mobility signs licensing deal with Vietnam's Kim Long Motors

KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jea-sun, second from left, and Nguyen Huu Luan, third from left, chairman of FUTA Group, pose after signing a licensing deal on March 30.[KG MOBILITY]

KG Mobility inked a licensing deal with Vietnam's Kim Long Motors to expand its reach in the Southeast Asian market.

It's the first big deal signed by the Korean automaker, previously known as SsangYong Motor, after it changed its name.

Under the six-year deal, Kim Long Motors will be assembling KG Mobility's Torres, Korando, Tivoli SUVs, at its Hue manufacturing complex near Danang starting in 2024. From 2025, it will also assemble Rexton SUVs and Rexton Sports Khan pick-ups.

As an automobile subsidiary of FUTA Group, Kim Long Motors has been building a KG Mobility car-dedicated manufacturing facility in the complex.

The annual capacity will increase up to 60,000, with the goal of producing a total of 210,000.

Sales will total up to 6 trillion won ($4.6 billion), KG Mobility said.

"Vietnam is a very big potential market in the auto industry, and also a very important base for our exports to the Southeast Asian market," KG Mobility said in a statement.

"KG will constantly expand our global sales by discovering new markets and releasing our new models globally including the latest Torres SUV."

With a population of around 100 million, Vietnam's annual auto sales are expected to surpass 500,000 in 2025.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]